


Business or Pleasure

by orphan_account



Category: Women's Soccer RPF
Genre: F/F, Hope is a lawyer, Kelley is well kelley, O'Solo - Freeform, Slow Burn, Strangers to Lovers, fake dating au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-23
Updated: 2018-01-01
Packaged: 2019-02-19 02:10:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,063
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13113753
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Hope is a workaholic lawyer who doesn't understand the meaning of taking a break, Kelley is a woman who got lost along the way.  They both need something from each other, Hope needs to show her family that she isn't all work and Kelley needs to prove that she has her own dreams and ambitions apart from her family name.An O'Solo fake-dating AU, with a few other tropes thrown in for good measure.





	1. A lawyer and an elf get trapped in an elevator

Hope Solo had enjoyed her climb to the top of the O'Hara company financial building. Well, almost the top, there were twenty-seven floors and she had made it to the twenty-fourth. She had started almost fifteen years early when she was sixteen working as an intern in the mail room as well as filing paperwork for some of the assistants. 

She worked spare hours there as she got older which helped put her through law school. She had left for a couple years finish Harvard and take a year backpacking through Europe, which had more than prepared the now thirty-one-year-old lawyer to make a killing in the business. She had been made a junior partner at the firm. 

The Richland native had seen what the world had to offer her and now she just wanted to focus on her work and make the most out of it that she could. She wanted to own her own law practice and leave behind a legacy that she would be proud of that. That her dad would be proud of. 

God, she missed him - So much. 

She hadn't even had a chance to say goodbye, they were finally in a good place and then bam - he was gone. 

After that, all she had was her work and her ambition. Hope considered herself a modern day success story. She had started out broke and without prospects and with hard work, she now was a big shot lawyer. Perhaps one that worked far too much but she felt like work was the one thing she excelled at most.

Glancing out the window of her high rise office, she stared down at the people bustling through the streets. They looked like ants she was up so high, still, she was both impressed and oddly amused. This had been her life for as long as she could remember except normally people were looking down at her. 

She had climbed the proverbial beanstalk, so now she was living in the land of giants. She watched as the sun was sinking behind some of the taller buildings and let out a small sigh. Hope had not been a fan of the holiday seasons, a lot of her workers wanted time off to see their families and it left her shorthanded. 

Moving back to her desk, Hope saw that she had a new email. It was strange since she had spent most of the day already answering all of her business ones. This one seemed of the personal variety and peaked her interest. Opening the email, she read it through, her eyes widening more and more as the words of the letter seemed to hit her. 

_‘Dear Hope_

_Hey, It’s been a while, I know you’ve been busy. Mom and I miss you, she says it’s been too long. We’re coming for a visit soon, so if you could maybe clear some time out for dinner or something that would be awesome. I know family reunions aren’t your thing Hope, but please try for mom. She mentioned you had a romantic partner last time you two talked, so maybe bring them. Mom doesn’t go on many trips, and she won’t be around forever. Please just spend some time with her. She wants to see you and see that you’re happy. She’s proud of you Hope._

_Anyways we’ll be in town on Christmas Eve. That is a week away Hope, so if you really don’t want us there I guess message me back._

_\- Marcus.’_

Hope buried her face in her hands. Seeing her brother and her mother hadn’t been in her plans, but leave it to her brother to guilt trip her. Seeing her family was hard enough when it wasn’t the holidays.

So she may have lied and told her mom she was seeing somebody when she was in fact not. She had been seeing a colleague for drinks every now and again but Adrian had turned out to be a prick. She wasn’t sure her mom would buy her not being in a relationship anymore. She hadn’t actually expected her mom to be coming there to call her out on her shit. This was not good, this was so not good. She had to go leave work now and figure out how to get out of this mess. 

Most of her fellow lawyers were gone, but she knew other people would still be in the building for the other businesses. Normally Hope was one of the last ones out at like two in the morning, but now she was leaving at a respectable 6 pm. She had worked eleven hours, she was due to have a break anyway.

Hope stepped onto the elevator, pressing the button for the first floor. She hoped most everybody was gone so she could just get to moving, she didn't have time to waste. She wasn't sure how well this was going to go once her family got here, she had seven days to find somebody to be her fake romantic interest.

She had seen movies of people faking relationships, she could pull it off. She just needed to get somebody as soon as possible, she was already trying to think of who she could ask. She knew Carli would normally help her but her best friend already had Christmas plans. 

The sound of the elevator dinging as it stopped on the fifth floor pulled Hope from her thoughts. She scowled in irritation as the doors began to slide open. She didn't have time for this stop, so she immediately began jamming her finger against the 'Close Door' button. 

"Hey hold the door please?" A voice called, the speaker was just out of Hope's line of sight. 

"Oh hell no," Hope muttered, pressing the button more impatiently. She thought she had managed to get her way as the doors started to close, the lawyer letting out a sigh of relief. 

However, her relief was short lived as just before the doors slid shut, a hand shot through them. 

Hope scoffed in irritation, watching as the doors opened up to reveal angry looking freckle-faced brunette whose arms seemed full of odd gifts. Even stranger was the fact that the woman was dressed in an elf-costume. The other woman glared at Hope and stepped onto the elevator, jamming her own finger for the first floor. 

"Really dude, that was uncalled for." The woman snapped, shaking her head. 

"You could have just taken the next elevator." Hope pointed out, not in the mood to talk to somebody. She tried to do her best lawyer voice hoping to get the girl to shut the hell up. “Besides I think it’s the other elevator that goes to the North Pole.” She shot back smugly.

The brunette elf pinned Hope with an angry look. "You could have just held the door instead of being an asshole and trying to shut it in my face." She muttered, before pressing the first-floor button again.

Hope stood her ground and folded her arms over her chest. "I am kind of in a hurry, so could you please just press the close door button?" Hope asked, her voice rising an octave. 

"You know what..." The freckle-faced woman turned, intentionally running her fingers over all the buttons on the elevator, making sure that the elevator would stop on every single floor all the way to the bottom. 

"Real mature." Hope groaned and leaned her head back against the wood paneling of the elevator, wondering why the gods above had forsaken her and cursed her to ride an elevator with a crazy stranger. "You know what's your name, I am gonna tell your supervisor that you're an asshole," Hope said, thinking that maybe if she threatened the girl, then she'd get some sort of an apology. 

"My name is Kelley O'-" Kelley's words were cut off as the elevator car gave a sudden lurch. The elevator made a strange creaking noise, lurched again, dropping a few feet before the elevator came to a stop and completely stopped working. 

Hope's eyes widened in terror. This couldn't be happening to her, why was everything going wrong today. She held onto the railing of the elevator, feeling like she was going to puke. The girl was not a fan of dying in an elevator, let alone with somebody as irritating as this Kelley seemed to be. 

"You have got to be kidding me." Hope hissed through clenched teeth, it was easier to pass blame on to Kelley. "You just had to get into the elevator and push all those buttons. I thought Santa's elves were supposed to be helpful" 

Kelley snorted in contempt and shook her head. "Says the woman who kept jamming the close button like fifteen-hundred times. Don't you know anything about patience." She asked, giving the girl a dirty look. "Besides I am not a fucking elf, I was being nice and bringing some gifts to my friends before I go to a holiday party."

That seemed to shut the lawyer up for a moment at least. Hope watched in silence as Kelley seemed to try figure out how to work the emergency buttons. Hope slid to the floor, sitting down. She didn't know how long she was going to be stuck in this godforsaken elevator, but this was not part of her plan. She needed to get out of there, she hated being trapped, and she was feeling very boxed in. 

It wasn't long before she was sobbing, crying harder than she had in years. She had been holding so much in, she missed her dad and she missed her whole family but she wasn't ready to see them. Hope had made work a priority because it was easier to do that than to face the fact that she was lonely as hell and nothing was going the way it was supposed to. 

Not to mention she was now stuck in an elevator with a rude woman, bawling her eyes out. 

Kelley seemed a bit uncomfortable as she watched Hope cry, she sighed softly and sat down across from her deciding she should apologize. "I am sorry for hitting all the buttons on the elevator. I didn't mean to break it or make you cry." 

Hope sniffled and waved her off. "It's not you, the holidays are hard for me. My mom and brother are coming into town and they expect me to have some grand life and I don't." Hope couldn't seem to stop crying now that she had started. Everything felt like it was too much and she felt utterly miserable. She wasn't even sure why she was sharing this emotional baggage with a stranger.

Clearing her throat awkward, Kelley dug into her purse and withdrew a small packet of tissues. "Here, wipe your eyes. We'll get out of this okay? What's your name?"

The lawyer eyed the tissues, wondering if she was being tricked. Finally, she took them, with a grateful half smile. "Hope Solo," Hope answered, wiping her eyes.

Kelley tried not to crack a smile, but she was very clearly making star wars puns in her head. "Well it looks like we might be stuck in here for a bit, so why don't we talk? Maybe we can help you release some of the weight you're carrying and you'll feel better."

"Like a therapy session?" Hope wrinkled her nose, not amused by the idea of somebody prying into her life. 

Kelley shrugged. "Well, Solo, what do you have to lose? It'll at least take an hour for them to get us out of here." Kelley was trying to appeal to her, the freckled-faced woman didn't like being bored.

"Excuse me if I am not exactly thrilled to be spilling my guts to somebody dressed as an elf." Hope quipped sarcastically. She knew she might as well talk to the girl, perhaps Kelley could give her a suggestion on what to do. Hope was starting to feel a little desperate, and a desperate Hope was a dangerous one. 

"Yes, I am dressed as an elf, as I mentioned I was delivering gifts. Why are you such a grinch?" Kelley asked, wondering why Hope was still being such an uptight asshole. "Where's your Christmas spirit."

"My Christmas spirit went out the door when I was informed my mother and brother are coming to visit in a week. I may have lied and told them I had a partner, and now they want to meet them." Hope realized she was oversharing and rambling, but by the look on Kelley's face, she could tell she had the girl's attention. 

Kelley was curious now, and once Kelley got curious nothing could stop her. "Why did you lie to them?"

"I was dating somebody at the time, so it wasn't a lie. It just became a lie of omission when I forgot to tell my mother that I and the guy I was seeing broke up." Hope hadn't wanted to break up with Adrian, and she had been sad when he left. Truth be told she had just lost herself in her work, it was easier to focus on. Work had always been Hope's safe haven, she had learned to use it to hide and she had never looked back. "I guess I just don't want her to be disappointed that yet again Hope can't keep a man." 

Kelley could understand not wanting to let the family down, and she figured that was why Hope hadn't informed her family. "Maybe you can just say that he broke up with you recently, I am sure there are plenty of guys out there that would jump at a chance to date you." Kelley was trying to make her feel better, she didn't know Hope well enough to mean those words.

Hope rapidly shook her head. "No, no men for a while. I can't deal with actually trying to date somebody during the holidays. I guess I can try to convince my mom and my brother that he's out of town." 

"So you're going to continue to lie to them?" Kelley asked, arching a brow in question. She wasn't really in a place to judge Hope, but the girl was proving to be an interesting companion. 

“It doesn’t matter really.” Hope sighed, glancing towards the elevator buttons. She wanted to get out of this death trap before it plummeted the rest of the way down. Sure it was only four floors to the bottom, but an injury was still an injury. “I don’t want to lie, but it’s not like I can just hire an escort for the holidays to be my fake romantic partner.” 

Kelley seemed to finally catch up on something, Hope kept using the word ‘partner’. “So it could be a girl too right?” 

Sighing a little bit, Hope shrugged a shoulder. “I don’t see why not, why?”

“Because I could maybe help you.” Kelley offered, her gaze full of earnest. 

Hope chuckled, thinking Kelley was only joking. However, when the ‘elf’ didn’t laugh as well, she realized she was being serious. “Wait, really? That is crazy, you don’t know me. Why would you offer to do this?”

Kelley arched a brow and folded her arms. “It’s not like you are gonna know the escort either.” She pointed out. "Besides I like an adventure and at least here you can ask around about me instead of a real complete stranger."

Okay, so Kelley had her there, but Hope wasn’t about to admit it. This girl seemed strange, who would offer to be somebody’s fake date after knowing them all of maybe fifteen minutes in an elevator.

“If you don’t want to, then suit yourself. I just thought I’d offer.” Kelley replied before she began looking through the bags she had boarded the elevator with. She pulled out a plate of cookies and grinned with delight as she opened the wrapper around the plate so she could eat.

Hope was still thinking over her dilemma. It wasn’t like she had many options, she needed somebody who was willing to work hard to sell the fact that they were in love. There was the whole issue of her and the elf not exactly getting off on the right foot. Maybe the fact that Kelley was dressed up was enough to prove that the strange girl could be committed to the cause though. 

Kelley chewed her chocolate chip cookie, watching the wheels turning in Hope’s head. Kelley couldn’t believe that she had offered to help, but then again she was the Queen of getting herself into random adventures. 

“Fine, I do need your help. I am not sure this is going to work, but maybe we can grab some coffee tomorrow and really discuss this when we’re not trapped in an elevator.” Hope was trying to go at it from a professional standpoint, trying to think of the potential fake relationship as a business deal. 

That drew a laugh from Kelley. “If that is your way of asking me out on a date, your game needs some work, Solo.” Kelley found it funny the way that Hope’s face flushed and got red even to the tip of the girl’s ears. It was fun watching the girl stew in frustration, but at last, Kelley relented. “Would you like a cookie for now? We should hopefully be rescued soon, then we can plan to meet up tomorrow for that coffee.”

Hope wanted to protest and reject the offer of a cookie, but her stomach growled. Hope hadn’t really eaten much that day, a bowl of oatmeal in the morning, and a few bites of a salad at lunch. “Sure.” Hope took the cookie, trying to retain her dignified aura even though she knew it was hopeless.

Kelley stood up and walked over to the elevator panel, trying to figure out if they were going to be rescued soon. It was getting hotter with the power off and she didn’t want to start overheating in the elevator car. 

“We could climb for it, maybe climb up to the next floor and pry the elevator doors open and escape.” Kelley offered, really considering the option. 

Hope stared at her like she had two heads. “I am in heels, not exactly the best for climbing. I’ll take my chances in the car. I don’t want to get squished if the elevator suddenly powers back up.”

“That’s okay, you can stay here. I’ll go then.” Kelley said, jumping up to try and open the hatch on the top of the elevator. 

Hope’s eyes widened in horror as Kelley’s jumping shook the car. “Stop! Stop, please.” She begged, scrambling to halt Kelley’s movements. “Please just sit down, we can wait.” 

“So now you want to be patient?” Kelley was having a hard time making heads or tails of this woman. She listened to Hope’s request and stopped jumping. 

Satisfied that Kelley wasn’t going to rock the elevator car anymore, Hope released her hold on the girl and moved to sit back down.

They spent the next five or ten minutes in quiet, Hope busy munching on the cookies and Kelley trying to figure Hope out. 

“So what do you do on the fifth floor, that is where you work, right?” Hope asked after a moment, she knew a lot of advertisement firms worked on that floor, shooting ads and working on promotional things for different companies. Hope had helped draw up some contracts for them, but she hadn’t seen Kelley around before. 

Kelley’s gaze shot up to Hope’s, the freckle-faced girl starting to tense a little. “I guess you could say I work there. I kind of float from floor to floor, where ever they need me.” 

“You go from floor to floor, to like different businesses?” Hope found that hard to believe. 

The brunette forced a laugh. “Would you believe me if I said I was a jack of all trades.” 

Hope’s gaze narrowed. “A jack of all trades, but a master of none.” She mumbled, not sure of why Kelley was being so shifty. 

Kelley wanted to get the attention off of herself, hoping that maybe by getting Hope to talk about herself it would help. “What about you, the briefcase and those heels scream lawyer.”  
“Yeah actually, I work on the twenty-fourth floor, I am a lawyer. A junior partner actually.” Hope wasn’t trying to boast, okay maybe a little bit. She was proud of herself for making it that far though. 

“That’s pretty cool, sounds like you’re a hard worker,” Kel commented, she was about to add another statement when suddenly the elevator lurched and the power came back on. 

Hope was startled by the noise and clutched at the railing of the elevator. “Shit.” She mumbled, trying to calm down her fast beating heart. 

Kelley had been spooked as well, but luckily hers hadn’t been as noticeable as Hope’s. “I guess we’re saved.” Kelley mused, gathering her stuff and the now empty plate of cookies from Hope. 

Once more they were both silent as the elevator finally got to the bottom floor, Hope stepped out first thankful for the fresher air and being out of the metal death trap. She wanted to swear off elevators, but being that she worked over twenty-flights of stairs up, she knew better.

A janitor stood looking amused as the two women walked off the elevator. “Ms. Solo, are you alright?”

“Yeah thanks, Henry, the elevator got stuck, I appreciate the rescue,” Hope said, feeling thankful that somebody had been there to assist them. Hope turned to Kelley. “Thank you too, for keeping me company in there and for offering to help with my problem. If you still want to help me, I’d appreciate it.”

“Sure thing, I would love to help. It would definitely make my holiday season better.” Kelley turned to grab a piece of paper and a pen from her purse only to realize she didn’t have a pen. She glanced at the janitor who was watching them. “Hey, Henry do you have a pen?”

Henry handed the woman a pen and gave her a friendly smile. “Sure thing Ms. O’Hara, how’s your father?” He didn’t seem at all phased by her elf costume.

Kelley scribbled out her name and number for Hope before glancing to Henry. “Oh he’s doing well, no doubt he’ll be back to work in a month or two, recovering from heart surgery takes a while I hear.” 

Hope was watching the exchange when something seemed to dawn on her. “Wait for a second, O’Hara, like as in the family that owns this building?” 

Kelley blinked in surprise and nodded. “Yeah, is that a problem?” Kelley asked holding out the piece of paper. 

The lawyer just stared at her, before taking the paper. “No, no problem. I just was surprised I guess. I met your father once when I first started here fifteen years ago.” Hope wasn’t sure how to feel about the fact that the daughter of the man who owned the damn building had offered to be her fake girlfriend. 

“Yeah, he’s a good man. Spent more time here than at home though.” Kelley sounded a bit bitter, but she pushed that away. “Anyways I guess I’ll see you for coffee tomorrow, we can go to the one that’s just down the street.” 

“Of course, see you tomorrow.” Hope nodded and watched Kelley leave. She had a feeling that if she and Kelley decided to pretend date at least for Christmas that things were going to get a lot more interesting. 

It was time to do what Hope did best, write a legally-binding contract and trying to micro-manage every aspect of her life. Maybe with some luck, she could pull this off and convince her mother and brother. Kelley was probably going to be the variable in this situation, Hope was doing her best to believe that she and Kelley could come together to figure this out and present a plausible story. 

Hope headed out towards the parking garage and her car. Hope was ready to try and bring her A-game.


	2. Muffins, contracts, and a little bit of hope?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kelley and Hope come to an agreement and plan for the future.

Was this really a good idea? Fake-dating a coworker to pull one over on family, so that they wouldn't think Hope was pathetic? Surely there were easier ways to pull this ruse off, ones that didn’t involve freckle-faced brunettes, that was far too pretty and far too dangerous. Hope could only picture this blowing up in her face, and she didn’t want that. 

This was a bad idea - Hope could feel it in her gut. Her gut was telling her to start running and to never look back. She could do it, she could get up from her seat and just make a run for it. She could forget everything that had happened in the last twenty-four hours, it was possible. 

Hope had arrived early at the coffee shop, having texted Kelley a rather formal message about meeting at nine in the morning. Hope had arrived at exactly eight am, wanting to be punctual and have time to think things through. She had spent the previous night and well into the wee hours of the morning drafting a contract for the two of them. 

Hope wasn't sure what Kelley would want out of the deal, but Hope was detailing what she needed from the freckled-face girl. If they were really going to pull one over on Marcus and her mom, then Hope knew it would need to be convincing. They would need pictures and some of Kelley's things around the house. They would have to get comfortable with at least touching and not acting like total strangers around each other. 

Perhaps this was going to be harder than she thought, maybe it was best to just come clean to her mom and brother. Sure she would have to deal with their judgemental gazes, she might even have to assure them that she would sign up for a dating website or go out more with friends. She'd get lectured of course, but maybe it would be worth it to not have to go through the trouble of putting on a fake performance. 

There was no way in hell that six days would be enough time to build a fake relationship and make it convincing. 

Feeling more than just a little defeated, Hope tried to take a sip of her apple cider she had ordered only to find that it had already cooled down. Hope let out a disgusted sigh and pushed her drink away, tearing off a piece of her blueberry muffin. Maybe this was a sign from the gods that her plan was doomed to fail. 

"Do you always attack muffins like they have pillaged your village or did that muffin, in particular, do something to you?" 

Hope turned her head, her mouth full of the muffin to find a smirking Kelley staring at her. Hope checked her watch, surprised that the girl was fifteen minutes early. She swallowed her mouthful of food and arched a brow not liking that she had been caught mid-chew. 

"Do you always comment on people's eating habits?" Hope fired back at the brunette. However, Hope was thrilled that Kelley was early, to her it meant that Kelley was taking this seriously. 

Kelley merely smiled and sat down across from Hope, folding her hands on the table. "So how long have you been here Solo?" 

Hope wrinkled her brow, and shrugged. "Not very long." She lied, not wanting to sound like she had doubted that Kelley would even show up or that she had been panicking about the whole thing. 

Kelley didn't look like she believed Hope, she picked up the girl's coffee cup before setting it back down. "Why is your cup cold then?" She asked, very clearly challenging Hope. Kelley was curious if lying came second-nature to Hope or if the girl was actually capable of telling the truth. 

"Fine, I've been here for a while," Hope admitted, deciding to just come clean. 

"I know," Kelley said, before pointing towards a chair over in the corner. "I've been sitting there the whole time."

Hope's eyes followed to where Kelley was pointing, a weird feeling in the pit of her stomach. "How come you didn't say anything or come over here earlier?" Hope was a little pissed, she felt like her time was precious and they could have already discussed the contract if she had known Kelley was there. 

"Because when you're frustrated you look kind of cute." Kelley shrugged a shoulder and leaned back in her chair, a hint of an amused smile on her face.

Scowling at being called out on her lie, as well as having her time wasted Hope turned her attention to the contract. "I took the liberty of drafting up a contract. It can be revised to something we both agree on, and it details what I expect from our arraignment." 

Kelley held up a finger, to silencer Hope. She took the contract from the lawyer and began to look it through, her brows furrowing. "Do all lawyers talk as much as you do? Geez, three pages of requirements, what is this the fifty shades of grey contract?" Kelley honestly felt like Hope needed to take a chill pill. The lawyer looked like she had a stick up her ass and didn't know how to relax or have any fun. 

Hope flushed a scarlet color, and glared. "I just want to be clear about what is expected, what your role is in this fake relationship." 

"You literally tell me what type of outfit I should wear to meet your brother and mom. What the hell is a Christmas-colored button up, but not red or green? What's next organizing what socks I need to wear?" Kelley couldn't believe her eyes. Did Hope seriously have to control everything down to the littlest detail? "Oh hell no Solo." Kelley locked eyes with the lawyer and ripped up the contract. 

"Hey!" Hope snapped, she had worked hard on it. This girl had some kind of nerve and it was irritating Hope to no end. “Was that really necessary? I spent all night on that contract.”

“Yes, it actually was.” Kelley rolled her eyes and snatched a piece of paper from Hope's legal pad and a pen. She ignored Hope who was still ranting, and scribbled out her own guidelines and then signed her name. 

"Here read this lawyer." Kelley murmured, pushing the paper towards hope. 

Hope was downright pissed but took the paper and looked over the scribble text. There were only three guidelines but as Hope read them over them seemed fair. 

1 - No lying to each other  
2 - Respect   
3 - Trust

At the bottom of the page, Kelley had scribbled a few sentences and then signed her name. 

"I Kelley O'Hara, do promise to do whatever it takes to convince your family that we are together. I promise to tell you the truth, be respectful and trust you. In return, I ask that you do the same and after we have convinced your family you must help me convince mine for a one-week vacation in Florida." 

Kelley watched as Hope read over the contract a couple of times, she could see the girl clenching her jaw before finally signing the paper. 

"You have yourself a deal O'Hara," Hope mumbled. 

Kelley grinned and folded the paper up and stuck it in her wallet. "Now that we have that settled, I suppose we should actually get to know each other a little bit. I want to be convincing, but I realize I don't know all that much about you." She stood up and smiled. "I'll get you another drink and then maybe we can go for a walk. It seems like we have a lot to learn." 

Hope watched Kelley head to the line, before burying her face in her hands. This girl was like a hurricane and Hope wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not. Kelley seemed to have an unlimited supply of energy, and more than that in a weird way she was like Hope's boss. It gave the lawyer a slimy feeling, but she did need the help. At most, it would be a two-week ordeal. A couple days with Hope's family and a week with Kelley's, then they could possibly go their own way. 

\--  
The duo had been walking for a solid twenty minutes, just chatting about random stuff before the conversation had turned to topics regarding Hope. 

"My dad died a few years back and ever since then me and have family we drifted. My dad wasn't perfect but I loved him more than anything." Hope explained, her gaze dropping to the ground. She missed him so much, she felt like the day he had died there was a piece of her that had died as well. 

Nothing had filled that hole, not drinking, not sex, not even work. 

Kelley watched her curiously, noticing the way that Hope seemed to get withdrawn when she talked about her dad. "So you went to law school to get your degree and went backpacking through Europe. That is pretty cool actually." Kelley offered, feeling bad for how sad Hope looked. 

"What about you, I need to be able to lie and say I know shit about you," Hope said, glad to have the conversation turning towards the brunette rather than it being focused on her. 

It was Kelley's turn to stare at the ground. "My family has owned this business for as long as I can remember. It's my heritage and I guess someday I'll be on the board once I turn thirty." Kelley had spent most of her youth trying to learn the business, trying to be somebody her family could depend on. 

"I like having fun and sometimes my fun is contradictory to what the company needs," Kelley added after a moment. "I got in trouble with the law once or twice."

Hope arched a brow. "I have a feeling some of those cases were brought to the firm." She hadn't known it was Kelley by name, but she knew that some of the future leaders of the company had a knack for getting into trouble.

"So tell me something I should know about you." Kelley mused, purposely crunching some leaves under her feet as she walked. 

"I like taking photos, I think it's fun to capture candids. Speaking of photos we need to take some. Some maybe we can set up a time and pretend to take photos at random places. Like a fake timeline of our relationship." Hope said, trying to think. 

Kelley lit up like the fourth of July. "Oh, I can take care of that. I have a designer friend that would let us borrow some outfits. We can take a couple pictures of different clothes and pretend it like our first date, or just random little events in our relationship." The wheels were already spinning in Kelley's head. 

The lawyer arched a brow as they made their way back to where they had met at the coffee shop. "Are you sure, you really don't have to do this Kelley. I mean that seems like a lot of trouble." 

Kelley rapidly shook her head. "It's not trouble, I'll text you an address tomorrow, be there and bring some makeup. We're going to have a whole bunch of fun." She gave Hope's arm a gentle squeeze before she took off running down the block.

Hope tried to ignore the way that Kelley's touch had left her flustered and left her heart beating way to fast. Hope still felt like Kelley was a bit hyper, but maybe Kelley taking initiative was a good sign. 

"Okay," Hope mumbled to herself, heading to her own car. She still had the little contract she had made with Kelley and couldn't help but smile as she stuck it in her glove box. The girl was crazy, but maybe Hope dug crazy chicks. 

She could do this, they could do this and pull it off. They could make this whole thing work.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you all enjoyed the chapter, I can't wait for the next chapter. Hope and Kelley trying on insane outfits and taking pictures. 
> 
> I love you all
> 
> \- Becks.


	3. A picture says a lot

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kelley and Hope take some pictures to set up a timeline for their relationship.

Once again, Hope had underestimated Kelley, and as she watched the girl moving about the room, she was struck by the fact that the brunette seemed to have limitless energy. Hope had never met somebody like Kelley before, the girl could give the energizer bunny a run for its money.

Kelley hadn't stopped moving since Hope had arrived at the studio Kelley had given her the address too. It was a big brick-walled sort of place that looked like it didn't fit in with the other buildings around it. Maybe unfairly, Hope hadn't expected Kelley to actually come through on the promise to take care of building a fake set of pictures of them. She hadn't trusted that Kelley was going to give proof to their fake relationship. She had underestimated Kelley in a big way and she had a feeling she needed to stop doing that.

Not only was Kelley taking this fake relationship business serious but she seemed to be taking it to a different level of extreme. Kelley was going beyond what was needed, and Hope appreciated it. 

When Hope had arrived at the building and knocked, a rather professional woman with a camera around her neck opened the door. 

"Oh, I am looking for Kelley," Hope said, shifting as she watched the girl look her over. "Maybe I got the wrong place, is Kelley here? Kelley O'Hara?"

"I don't know if I can work with this mate, she looks like she's about to mug me." The woman said, her accent told Hope she was Australian, but despite the friendly smile on the woman's face, she was watching Hope suspiciously. "Yeah, Kelley is here, just a second."

Kelley had bounded over in the meantime, mumbling something about how Hope had a hard exterior but was actually a teddy bear. "Come on Sammy, you know this would look good in your portfolio. Look at her cheekbones and her eyes." 

Hope hadn't liked the way that Kelley was trying to sell her like a piece of meat, but it worked because the photographer sighed and extended a hand in way of formal greeting. 

"Samantha Kerr, but KO here calls me Sammy. I guess I am your photographer for today." Sam shook Hope's hand and then lifted her camera and snapped a picture of Hope. 

Kelley only chuckled and then had guided Hope over to another room in the studio. "Sammy can take the best pictures, she's one of my best friends and she said she'd do us this solid if she could keep a few pictures for her portfolio." 

Hope felt a little uneasy and Kelley was talking a million miles a minute. Some stranger was going to have her picture and she wasn't sure how she felt about it. However this stranger was also doing her a favor, and Hope needed show some appreciation. 

"Okay," Hope said after a moment, giving into Kelley and what seemed like her boundless energy. "How's this going to work?"

"Well, Sammy's girlfriend Nikki is really good at makeup and agreed to help us as well," Kelley said nodding to the door, where Nikki was waiting. "She'll help us have new looks and outfits for the pictures. I took the liberty of renting us some outfits. I had some friends who owed me favors. You go ahead and get your make up done. 

Hope looked unsure, but obeyed Kelley's direction and headed into the room with Nikki. Hope didn't tend to wear a lot of makeup, but she had a feeling this was just the start of Kelley's plan.

"Where did you find that one O'Hara?" Samantha asked, messing with the setting on her cameras. "Is this another one of your strays?"

Kelley frowned at Sammy's tone and shook her head. "No it's not like that, I am doing her a favor. She's not all that bad." Kelley insisted.

"How long have you known her?" Sam asked, her tone careful. Sammy knew how hard Kelley had fallen for her ex, and she didn't want to see Kelley fall for a stranger only to get her heart busted again. "My bank account can't afford another O'Hara pity party." 

Kelley folded her arms, not wanting to think about the fact that Sam could have a point. "Shut up Kerr, I've known her for a few days but I've done my research. You know I like helping people."

"I am not sure if it's the helping people thing, or if you like the fact that maybe it gives you a distraction from your problems." Sammy knew her words were a bit harsh, but somebody had to be honest with Kelley. The freckle-faced girl could be reckless and Sammy was just trying to spare her more pain. "You know I love you Kel, I'll help you with your scheme just guard your heart." 

Kelley hugged her tightly, glad that even if Sammy wasn't in total agreement she was still down to help. "You're the best Sam," Kel said kissing her cheek. She knew that she could count on Sam to back her up and be on her side no matter what crazy plan Kelley was hatching.

In the bathroom Hope was silent as Nikki worked on her make-up, trying to make Hope looked dazzling yet fierce. Hope had never had her eyeliner this sharp before but she kind of liked it. 

“So how do you know Kelley?” Nikki asked breaking the silence. Nikki could tell Hope was nervous and having been Sam's girlfriend long enough, she knew Hope needed to relax a bit for the pictures to look good.

Hope wasn’t sure how to explain that she didn’t know Kelley all that well. “We got trapped in an elevator together a couple days ago.”

“Really?” Nikki arched a perfectly plucked brow but didn’t pause in her movements as she added some blush to Hope’s cheeks. "So only a couple days then? That is interesting."

“Yeah I was having a bad day and we were trapped in the elevator for a while. I guess it's stressful events that lead to people being friends.” Hope wasn’t sure what all Kel had told her friends. “So Samantha is your girlfriend.”

A wistful smile crossed Nikki’s face and she nodded. “Yeah Sammy is amazing and I lucky to have her. The way she takes pictures, it’s like the whole world is just so beautiful to her.” 

“How did you guys meet Kel?” Hope figured it was better to keep Nikki talking about the three of them, rather than focusing on Hope. The lawyer preferred to keep her private life private, and she didn’t completely trust Kelley or the strangers.

“We all went to college together. All three of us were in this co-ed fraternity. Kelley and Sammy were doing an insane pull-up competition. I was the judge and we all became inseparable.” Nikki smiled at the memory. She loved her family, even if they were a little broken sometimes. “Anyways you’re all set, Kel and Sammy are waiting for you.”

Hope nodded, trying to image Kelley in a sort of greek life on a campus. She could picture Kelley just being the life of the party, maybe wearing a toga and doing pull-ups. Trying to push that thought from her mind, Hope walked back out to the room to join the Aussie and Kelley.

"Oh there you are, you look lovely. Actually, we don't need to change the outfit you're in, that'll work." Kelley said looking Hope over. Hope was wearing a business casual sort of outfit with a knitted scarf around her neck. Kelley walked over and loosened the scarf a bit so that the girl would look more relaxed and not so uptight. "Perfect."

Hope tried to ignore the feeling that was stirring in the pit of her stomach, she was desperate to ignore the effect that Kelley had on her. When the girl was around, it made Hope feel off balanced and she wasn't used to that. 

"So Sammy is going to take pictures of us and then what?" Hope asked, trying to change the subject. 

"She'll edit it into different things like making us look like we're at a park or party. Just random things like that." Kelley explained, knowing some of the pictures had to look candid. Kelley finished adjusting Hope's scarf and was about to step back when she heard the clicking of Sammy's camera. 

Sammy watched them and gave a thumbs up. "Are you two coming up with a backstory of how you guys met, your first date, all that stuff?"

Hope's head quickly twisted so she could look at Samantha. "Crap we do need to think of backstories for these pictures, otherwise we're going to be so screwed." 

Kelley frowned, not liking that Hope seemed so stressed. "Hey relax, I need you to trust me." Kelley cupped the girl's face, drawing Hope's attention back to her. She pressed her forehead against Hope's. "Keep your eyes on me, I won't let you down." She whispered, her breath tickling Hope's face.

Neither of them seemed to realize that Sammy was still snapping pictures of them and getting different angles of the intimate moment. Now, this was something that the Aussie could work with, she could make them look in love. 

For the next couple of hours Sammy worked, she would take candid shots of Kelley and Hope, and then a few posed ones. She let Nikki even get in on a few, wanting to give more credibility. She hadn't got any of them kissing, but she made sure to get a bunch of them holding hands or cuddling. 

“All of these are looking so great. I am gonna get them developed and printed and then send you a photo book full. You can post them on your Social media or do whatever.” Sammy said, before going to her office to work on her task. Nikki was pleased with her work as well and headed to the bathroom to clean up the leftover makeup. 

Hope cleared her throat and glanced at Kelley. “I really appreciate you doing this with me. I don’t think I would have been this clever to think of all of this. You're very creative Kel”

Kelley shrugged bashfully and pulled out her phone. She tugged Hope close and pressed a kiss to her cheek, before snapping a picture of it. “You are smart Hope and I feel like we could pull this off. Sammy is going to help us.” Kelley promised, trying to keep Hope's spirits up. She needed the girl to believe in them, to believe that they could sell the story.

“Four days until they get here.” Hope took a ragged breath, she felt bad for lying to her family but she didn’t want to let them down. She felt like she needed to prove to them that she could have her career and a love life. 

“How about we spend the day together tomorrow. I have to get some gifts for my family and you never know somebody until you spend a whole day with them.” Kelley suggested, she was thinking it would give them more time to go together and build the backstory for their relationship. 

Hope wasn’t sure she could get the day off, but then again she never really asked for days off and she could just say she was working from home. “Alright, you got yourself a deal O'Hara, what is the worst that could happen.” The look that Kelley gave her in return, had Hope wondering just how crazy Kelley could be.

“Let’s go grab a drink Solo, I could use one and maybe we can take some candid pictures on our phone.” Kelley wanted to see Hope let loose a little. “We’ll bring Sam and Nikki, you can tell your family you met my friends then.” 

Hope thought about it and then gave a tiny nod. “Yeah let’s do it, I am going to need to meet your friends anyways. Plus us having pictures with them, and making some memories will make it easier to have stories to tell my mom and brother.” 

Kelley gave her a thumbs up. “Alright, I’ll grab the trouble-makers and meet you downstairs.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Man, I don't know what my problem is, but like the words aren't flowing as much with this story, it's driving me crazy. Because normally I can write a couple thousand words no problem, but my muses are being stubborn.
> 
> Anyways happy new year everybody. May this year be filled to the brim with love, life, and laughter.
> 
> Thank you all for being you, my goal this year is to try and write more but we'll see if that actually happens since I will be taking 15 units this coming semester. 
> 
> Love you all
> 
> \- Becks.
> 
> P.S. Do you guys want me to include the little bar trip in the next chapter? Because Kel and Sammy partying and Hope getting to have some carefree fun could be interesting.

**Author's Note:**

> I really don't know what I am doing starting a multi-chapter O'Solo story when I have like 3 other stories I need to be writing, but this one wouldn't leave me alone. 
> 
> Typically I stick to Talex or Krashlyn stories for the main part, but this time I am gonna try my best to write a good O'Solo multi-chapter story. I got some really good ideas for this one.
> 
> If you're looking for a holiday fake dating, strangers to lovers, sometimes angsty/fluffy story with a bunch of potentially random tropes thrown in to make a nice O'Solo cake then this is the story for you. You want O'Solo stuck in a car for a few days of cross-country travel? Do You want those angsty, hate-that-I-love-you type moments? Then stick around. 
> 
> As usual, please give me some love. Comments and kudos are appreciated. 
> 
> \- Becks
> 
> P.S. I'll be trying to update Keeping Home next.


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